1. The home page for the International Listening Association, http://listen.org/, contains much information on the process of listening. Visit the page and look at the section on listening exercises for skill-building activities to improve your listening ability. Also, explore the listening resource section for interesting facts about listening; links to books, journal articles, and tapes about listening; and an online assessment of your listening ability.

2. The home page of National Public Radio, http://www.npr.org/, has an archive of audio stories on a variety of subjects. One collection of stories, "American Centenarians," profiles people who have lived to be at least 100 years old. Each profile contains first-person audio clips describing the challenges and opportunities of living so long. Listen to four different stories with four different goals in mind. Listen to one for enjoyment or entertainment and to another for comprehension. Listen to one critically to form an opinion about the quality of life of the elderly and listen to a final one for empathy. What obstacles hinder your ability to empathize with these centenarians? What attitudinal obstacles did you encounter as you listened to the stories? What factors hindered your ability to listen empathetically?